Ali Bagautinov’s nickname, “Puncher King,” leaves little question as to his preferred plan of attack. But as the Russian flyweight walked to the cage on Saturday night, a quick observation led him to take a different approach.

“On my way to the cage, I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Bagautinov explained. “As a kid, I spent a lot of times watching his films, and I thought that it might be his time to watch me for a bit, as well.”

The 28-year-old Bagautinov (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) fought in the main-card opening matchup of this past weekend’s UFC 167 event, which took place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, where he faced Tim Elliott (10-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC). Bagautinov brought with him a nine-fight win streak, a run that included a September win over Marcos Vinicius at UFC Fight Night 28.

The 5-foot-4 flyweight was a relative unknown entering his UFC debut, fighting solely in his native Russia before earning his call to the world’s largest MMA promotion. However, prior to his UFC 167 bout with Elliott, Bagautinov had finished nine of his 12 opponents, including five by knockout.

Against Elliott, Bagautinov was forced to outpoint his foe, working hard to stay in and out of his opponent’s ample reach while scoring with quick counterstrikes. The strategy worked, and he was awarded a unanimous-decision win.

After the fight, Bagautinov was asked if he was disappointed with his performance after losing out on the opportunity to live up to his nickname during his first ever pay-per-view appearance. Bagautinov took the veiled criticism in stride and joked it wasn’t just Schwarzenegger he was looking to impress.

“My nickname is ‘Puncher King,’ and I was given that nickname because I love to finish my fights quickly by knockout,” Bagautinov said. “But this was a huge day – the 20th anniversary of the UFC – so I’ll be completely frank: I wanted some airtime.”

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.